4-H leader accompanies Hawai'i delegation to national conference

Gary Heusel, a UH Mānoa Family and Consumer Sciences associate specialist and Hawai‘i state 4-H leader, recently accompanied the four-youth Hawai‘i 4-H delegation to the national conference in Washington, D.C. The Hawai‘i State 4-H program is housed at UH Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Cooperative Extension Services office.

The four Hawai‘i 4-H members were selected to attend the conference based on their leadership in 4-H, schools and community, and their plans to get additional young people involved in the program. Members of the Hawai‘i delegation are Roosevelt High freshman Denika Martin from the Leprechauns 4-H club in Honolulu, Parker School sophomore Victoria Andrade-McKeehan from the Hamakua 4-H Livestock Club on the Big Island, Radford High junior Meko Thompson from the Aliamanu 4-H Club in Honolulu, and Kapaa High junior Ty Nakamoto from the Kauai Livestock 4-H Club.

A 4-H alumnus provided the extra financial support necessary to allow a Hawai‘i delegation to participate this year. The state last participated in the national conference in 1994.

The national conference convenes 4-H youth with adult youth development professionals and volunteers to learn and share information on current trends and/or issues relevant to 4-H and youth, building effective partnerships, creating innovative 4-H programs, expanding the use of technology, working with diverse groups and impacting community needs. While in Washington, the four teen delegates provided workshops designed to guide the future direction of 4-H, and also had the opportunity to meet with U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, Congresswoman Mazie Hirono and the staff in U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye’s office.

The conference, which included approximately 300 youth from across the country, brings together the resources of the 4-H program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Land-Grant University System, Cooperative Extension Services and other partners involved in building and sustaining effective programs for youth.